It is well known to those skilled in the art that aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins are each a class of very important industrial chemicals which find a variety of uses in petrochemical industry. It is also well known to those skilled in the art that catalytically cracking gasoline-range hydrocarbons produces lower olefins such as, for example, propylene; and aromatic hydrocarbons such as, for example, benzene, toluene, and xylenes (hereinafter collectively referred to as BTX) in the presence of catalysts which contain a zeolite. The product of this catalytic cracking process contains a multitude of hydrocarbons including unconverted C.sub.5 + alkanes; lower alkanes such as methane, ethane, and propane; lower alkenes such as ethylene and propylene; C.sub.6 -C.sub.8 aromatic hydrocarbons; and C.sub.9 + aromatic compounds which contain 9 or more carbons per molecule.
Recent efforts to convert gasoline to more valuable petrochemical products have therefore focused on improving the conversion of gasoline to olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons (gasoline aromatization) by catalytic cracking in the presence of zeolite catalysts. For example, a gallium-promoted zeolite ZSM-5 has been used in the so-called Cyclar Process to convert a hydrocarbon to BTX. Olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons can be useful feedstocks for producing various organic compounds and polymers. However, the production yield of olefins to aromatic compounds produced by the gasoline aromatization process is generally not as high as one would desire. Therefore, development of a process for converting hydrocarbons to the more valuable olefins and BTX would be a significant contribution to the art and to the economy.